Submitted by Sam Jay Copeland
(Editor's note: We sent a next generation punk appreciator to see how an iconic punk act from the way past stacks up with the young uns.)
Go to a punk show for the music, stay for the ritual. A fan climbed onstage during the middle of a song (don't remember which one, possibly A.I.D.S.) and declared her eternal love for lead singer Mickey DeSadist. He allowed her to come on stage and dance around for a bit, whilst cautioning her to "please not show everybody in the crowd your boobs like you always do."
The house was packed, the average age was probably about 40, but there was still a strong contingent of younger people, mostly making themselves noticed by smashing against each other in the mosh pit while all except the most hardcore older folk stood by the sidelines. The Kensington Market veterans were all in attendance, with Steve Goof (of TheBunchOfFuckingGoofs) and his entourage of refugees from the 1980’s frequently parading to the bar and returning to the pit with 4 beers each.
Mickey was wearing a shiny golden Mad Hatter's costume from some alternate universe version of Alice in Wonderland as imagined by David Bowie. His stage presence was on point, soaking up the crowd's delight and stopping to make sarcastic commentary when appropriate. His beer gut emerged from the shimmering suit vest in a way that me and my friends concluded was in fact proud. Rather than concealing his middle aged girth behind a veil of glam rock influenced sexuality he had integrated it into the performance.